Six Steps To Monkey Tilt - Part 1

Ok just a brief outline of the purpose of this piece. Anyone who has read my thread in the Poker Goals section(Dont Be Scared Move Up- NL25 Reg To NL100 Reg by 2011) will recognise that i have had, and do have some massive problems with tilt. I am obviously not alone in this and most people, if not all, will suffer varying degrees of Tilt while sat at the poker tables.

Unfortunatley for me i am at the top end of the scale in the fact that when it goes off, it goes off big style with the full works of hitting walls and kicking desks, a full blown temper tantrum if you like. Away from the tables people will tell you i am one of the nicest guys that you can meet and am so laid back im almost horizontal.

Which brings me to the purpose of this post which is to try and help myself and maybe help others to try and bring tilt down to a reasonable level. I am not going to claim i am a poker expert and try and help people solve complicated maths problems because i am a long way off that but one thing i am good at is Tilting. I have taken a lot from these forums over the last 6 or 7 months and wanted to try and give something back. So maybe i can give my personal views of Tilt and maybe someone will get some good out of it. I want to delve in to things like what triggers these outbursts and what can be done to prevent them, sort of a re-wiring of the thought process that leads to Tilt if you like.

Six Hands That Let The Onslaught Begin

These below are six hands i played last night that led me to a full blown attack of Tilt. I will list my thought process that i was thinking at the time. I will then list my thought process in the cold light of day.
These hands happened in quite a short span of time and had me well and truly throwing the dummy out of the pram.

Hand 1.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked

MP1: $115.10
MP2: $100.00
CO: $100.00
BTN: $100.00
SB: $77.40
BB: $97.50
UTG: $138.80
Hero (UTG+1): $106.45
UTG+2: $222.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG+1 with K A
1 fold, Hero raises to $3, 5 folds, SB raises to $77.40 all in, 1 fold, Hero calls $74.40

Flop: ($155.80) 6 T 9 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: ($155.80) 2 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($155.80) K (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $155.80
SB shows J A (a flush, Ace high)
Hero shows K A (a pair of Kings)
SB wins $152.80
(Rake: $3.00)

Villain is 24/7 over 55 Hands, a virtual unknown who has shoved the last 2 hands. I know at worst i am flipping against any pocket pair apart from AA and KK. As it turns out i get it in as 75/25 favorite and its happy days.

Tilty Me Thinking
Please no Jack. I like that flop although he will probably hit a straight. No diamond, no diamond. Typical, that always seems to happen when i get it in way ahead.

Logical Me Thinking
Well done you have made the right call. Now just let the cards run out, there is nothing you can do now. Oh well he sucked out, good for him, it will even itself up down the road. Its great for us that he is willing to get the money in like that, on to the next hand.


Hand 2.


Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked

MP1: $108.20
MP2: $61.60
Hero (CO): $116.85
BTN: $40.00
SB: $34.00
BB: $253.95
UTG: $116.40
UTG+1: $37.15

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with K A
3 folds, MP2 raises to $2, Hero requests TIME, Hero raises to $6, 1 fold, SB raises to $15, 2 folds, Hero raises to $116.85 all in, SB calls $19 all in

Flop: ($71.00) 6 3 T (2 players - 2 are all in)

Turn: ($71.00) T (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($71.00) 8 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $71.00
Hero shows K A (a pair of Tens)
SB shows J J (two pair, Jacks and Tens)
SB wins $68.00
(Rake: $3.00)

Villain is 12/8 after 60 hands. Again a virtual unknown.

Tilty Me Thinking

Here it is pretty much the same thinking as the logical me thinking. Typical short stack raise after i raised the min raise. Im shoving or folding here and if villain is a normal shortstacker then AK isnt fairing too bad against his range.
I decide to get it in and im not too displeased to see JJ.
My thinking goes something along the lines of, typical isnt it i get it in with AK and dont get near the board yet everyone who gets it in in the same situation against me hits everytime.

Logical Me Thinking

Pretty much same as the above. If i have the villains logical range as AA and KK discounting any combos that i have blockers against. Then im adding 99+ and AQ and possible AJs, also adding AK but minus any combos i stop. Against that range i am basically 50/50 which i dont really mind here.
My thinking after the hand should be that i got it in and wasnt in too bad shape, make a note that the villain will cold 4bet with JJ against 2 late position raises, and calmly move on to the next hand knowing once again i will be winning as many of these as i lose.


Hand 3.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players
2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked

UTG+1: $108.20
MP: $59.60
Hero (CO): $100.00
BTN: $68.00
SB: $252.95
BB: $116.40
UTG: $37.15

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with K A
2 folds, MP calls $1, Hero raises to $4, 1 fold, SB raises to $14, 2 folds, Hero raises to $31, SB raises to $252.95 all in, Hero calls $69 all in

Flop: ($202.00) 7 9 9 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Turn: ($202.00) K (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($202.00) J (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $202.00
Hero shows K A (two pair, Kings and Nines)
SB shows A A (two pair, Aces and Nines)
SB wins $199.00
(Rake: $3.00)

This hand happened the very next hand after the one above on the same table. Villain is 19/14 over 256 hands and has a 2.2% 3bet stat which is quite low for the style he is playing.

Tilty Me Thinking

I cant believe i have just lost that pot. I never have any luck. Aks thats a good hand to punish this limper. 3bet again are you having a laugh. This guy must have seen the last hand and thinks that he can push me around. Well i dont think so. I will 4bet him and show him whos boss. Shove all in he must be kidding. And in the blink of an eye i had called. FFS this is taking the pee, they always have a hand against me. If this was against me i would hit a flush here.No chance of me sucking out, like i said. Thump, that was the sound of my hand crashing down on my desk.

Logical Me Thinking

Must remember to take a note on the last hand. Ok Aks, im defnatley raising the limper with this hand. Mmmmm Facing a 3bet here from a player with only a 2.2% 3bet stat which seems very low for the style he plays so he must have a decent hand here. Its also the first time he has 3bet from the blinds.(Yes i forgot to mention that bit) So he isnt messing around here.
Now im honestly a bit undecided what to do in this situation even now looking back at the hand.
If i 4bet and get shoved on im probably way behind even though villain has seen my last hand he has no reason to think im raising light. I defnatley dont like 4bet/folding so if i 4bet im doing it with the intention to get it in.
If i call im doing it with the intention of trying to outplay post flop which is very questionable although looking at the villains stats he is cbetting 93% of the time but only 33% on the turn so he may give up on the turn but by then there is a lot of money in the pot.
Now they say if you are undecided then the best thing to do is fold. The things pointing at a fold here are that the villain has no reason to think im getting out of line afterall i just show down with AK. Its the first time he has 3bet from the blinds. He also looks like he is developing a pretty tight 3bet range. All these things point to a fold.
Now if it was against a reg here i could maybe advocate getting it in if i had a lot more reads but really the sensible thing here is to just fold and look for a better spot.


Hand 4.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked

UTG+1: $101.00
MP1: $74.90
MP2: $92.50
CO: $101.15
BTN: $122.60
SB: $108.90
BB: $69.25
Hero (UTG): $100.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with 7 7
Hero raises to $3, 4 folds, BTN calls $3, 2 folds

Flop: ($7.50) 3 3 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $5, BTN calls $5

Turn: ($17.50) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $12, BTN calls $12

River: ($41.50) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $30, BTN calls $30

Final Pot: $101.50
BTN shows J J (two pair, Jacks and Threes)
Hero shows 7 7 (two pair, Sevens and Threes)
BTN wins $98.50
(Rake: $3.00)

Villain here is 13/10 over 90 hands so already we are thinking he is pretty tight.

Tilty Me Thinking

This is all total BS, how come everyone has a hand against me. Right Pocket Sevens im defnatley raising them especially with a limper in the pot. Thats not a bad flop for me im defnatley cbetting here. The turn dosnt change anything im just going to keep betting until he folds.Im going to make him fold on the river theres no way he can call this bet. WTF he called me down with Jacks, i cant f`ing believe it what is he think the idiot he defnatley should be folding with all the aggresion i have shown. WHAM, thats the sound of my elbow crashing down against my desk. F`ing hell im so f`ing mad i just want to hit something. WHACK, thats the sound of my hand hitting the door frame.

Logical Me Thinking

Ok im raising 77 with a limper in the pot already. OK so a 13/10 has called my raise. Whats his range for calling a raise? Id say all pocket pairs minus maybe AA and KK. Maybe AQ, AJ type hands and maybe at a push some high suited connectors.
Right thats not a bad flop for me im defnatley betting this flop. Ok so the villain has called i think here we can narrow his range a bit but not an awful lot as he may be floating with the intention of taking the pot away on the turn which is well possible on this sort of board.
The turn card isnt a bad one for us as i dont expect him to have a lot of nines in his range. Im defnatley double barrelling here but it is an easy fold if raised. The call on the turn on what is a pretty dry board the way the hand has played should set the alarm bells ringing. This is the point we can really narrow his range down. He is not double floating with hands like AK and AQ or high suited connectors. His range now i feel, has us crushed. It is 33,44 maybe 99 and then overpairs. As soon as i am called the river card changes nothing and i am now check folding the river.
We can be safe in the knowledge that we are beat here and move on to the next hand knowing that we played it quite well but were behind on this occasion.


Hand 5.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked

UTG: $92.10
UTG+1: $135.40
MP1: $74.50
MP2: $260.25
Hero (CO): $113.40
BTN: $114.55
SB: $195.10
BB: $100.00

Pre Flop: ($1.00) Hero is CO with Q Q
1 fold, UTG calls $1, 3 folds, Hero raises to $4.50, 1 fold, SB raises to $14.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $10

Flop: ($30.00) 7 8 T (2 players)
SB bets $22, Hero calls $22

Turn: ($74.00) 9 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $40, SB raises to $80, Hero calls $36.90 all in

River: ($227.80) T (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $227.80
Hero shows Q Q (two pair, Queens and Tens)
SB shows A A (two pair, Aces and Tens)
SB wins $224.80
(Rake: $3.00)

Villain is 28/8 over 107 hands and has never 3bet from the blinds.

Tilty Me Thinking

Man my hand is hurting. I feel really angry now i must be due some luck sooner or later. Yes pocket Queens i should get some money back here, knowing my luck though someone will have a better hand.(I actually remember thinking this) 3bet, again, as if, i cant believe this is happening again, this is a joke. Im calling this time and then i can probably fold later unless i hit my set. Mmm i didnt hit my set but i have an overpair so i might be good. Im calling anyway. Haha villain checked i must have the best hand now and i can even rep the straight. Min raised, f`ing hell i have to call now. Yep as i thought pocket Aces maybe i will hit the straight. No such chance. FFS, everything is against me, i never seem to have this sort of luck. WHAM, elbow hits the desk again and then again. I need to hit something again im thinking as i stand up and whack my chair with my hand.

Logical Me Thinking

QQ im defnatley raising here. Right 3bet from the blinds that sucks a bit but he has shown no reason for me to think that he is messing with me. Im going to give him respect this time and fold.
Now im not saying that we are folding here everytime but just in this instance. We have no reason to believe villain is getting out of line and not enough reads to start to think we may be in front. Once again going back to the old adage that if in doubt we should fold.


Hand 6.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked

CO: $108.75
BTN: $139.35
SB: $100.00
BB: $265.90
Hero (UTG): $111.35
UTG+1: $123.55
MP1: $52.65
MP2: $286.45

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG with A A
Hero raises to $3, 2 folds, MP2 calls $3, 4 folds

Flop: ($7.50) 6 5 K (2 players)
Hero bets $5.50, MP2 raises to $15, Hero calls $9.50

Turn: ($37.50) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $268.45 all in, Hero calls $93.35 all in

River: ($224.20) Q (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $224.20
Hero shows A A (a pair of Aces)
MP2 shows 5 6 (two pair, Sixes and Fives)
MP2 wins $221.20
(Rake: $3.00)

Villain is same villain as above and this hand is just a few hands later.

Tilty Me Thinking

Man i think i may have hurt my elbow. I really should stop but im just so angry. Pocket Aces that will do im defnatly winning this time. Ha the same guy has called im defnatley getting some of my money back here.
Im betting this flop, raise, whats he thinking, he must be taking the pee, how can i best get money off him, shall i call or shall i raise and get it in. I will call and trap him thats it. So he shoves then whats he repping there i must be miles in front so im defnatley calling. 56 FFS, what a f`ing joke, the spawny fcuk, maybe i can pair up on the river, thought as f`ing much.
Lost it pretty bad at this point and could actually feel the rage built up in me and just wanted to get rid of it by pounding things.

Logical Me Thinking

AA standard raise here. Thats not a bad flop for me so im defnatly leading out here. Right facing a raise now. If i re-raise im only getting called by a hand that beats me. Im not folding i have no reason to think that the villain isnt capable of doing this as a bluff or with a good king here. Im going to call and play the turn accordingly. The eight isnt a great card afterall it does complete a few straight draws but its not the worst card i could see. Villain shoves, he saying he has me beat and im going to have to let this one go here. Its now very unlikely that im ahead and i have no reads that the villain could do this as a bluff.


Summary

So as we can see it was just a few hands that managed to get me in to that state and believe me tilt at that level is not good in the slightest. I can actually feel myself getting angry as i go over the hands and think back about how i played them. Now i dont mind hands 1 and 2 i feel they are pretty standard, my reaction to them though is the thing i worry about and is something i need to look in to and try and find a way around it. Hand 3 is a spew and hand 4 is defnatley a spew on the river although i feel i played it ok up to then. Hands 5 and 6 are definate spews. All the above hands contributed to me hitting monkey tilt and i need to fathom a way to avoid the feelings that build up within me at each stage. By hand 3 i had pretty much lost it although i had no reason to before that. Thats the point where i need to intercept my feelings and change the thoughts that go through my head.

The next part im thinking of looking at the things that set me off on Tilt and looking at ways to avoid them or work around them Im also going to try and look in to ways to alter thinking when these points are reached to try and avoid all out monkey tilt. The one thing i dont do is stop playing and although that is the easiest option it is one that i wont take so i know i have to bring my tilt down to a manageable level. That is going to be the fun part.

Not sure about everyone else but i have some main things that start to trigger off the tilt that eventually leads to my full blown monkey tilt.


1. Checking HEM Repeatedly

I do this on a near constant basis. I find out i am up and start to play more to try and not lose any of my winnings. I find out that i am losing some of my winnings after checking HEM and this gets me frustrated and starting to tilt.
If i check and find that i am down then i will be constantly checking to see if i have caught up any and when i find out i havnt then i tend to start to chase losses.
Each thing there is a form of tilt and has me playing sub-optimally instead of trying to play each hand correctly.I am now trying not to lose anymore money or trying to win some extra.
I spoke to my previous coach about this, he is a very good nl400 reg, and i was suprised to find out that he too had suffered from the same problem. He managed to get him self out of this routine and now can go weeks without checking HEM knowing that as long as he is making the right decision then the money will take care of itself. One day i hope to be able to attain the right mentality and discipline to be able to do this.


2. Been A Non Believer

Im terrible for this in the fact that i hardly ever believe that people are telling the truth so to speak at the tables. I can probably count on one hand the amount of times i have been All In pre flop after someone has 4bet me and they have had less than QQ or AK. On the other hand i probably wouldnt have enough hands if i had 10 for the times i have been 4bet pre flop only to find out that the villain was actually telling the truth.
This just brings on the tilt where by i feel i am not getting my fair share of situations where i have the better of it.


3. Fish Sucking Out

This one dosnt affect me that much but it does to a certain level. I obviously realise if i have got it in with the best hand against a fish then sometimes they will suck out. Depending how far down the line of tilt i am though this can effect me on a scale of just brushing it off right up to setting me up for some monkey tilt.


4. Regs `Incorrect` Play

Many a time i have engaged in chat battles with regs on how bad hands were played. This only serves the purpose to wind me up even more and leaves me unable to concentrate on nothing else but getting one over someone in chat. I now have chat disbabled and although you might get an idea of the occasional players thoughts, it is too much of a temptation for me to become a keyboard warrior against a reg.
The following hand put me on tilt. Instead of thinking what a good do, i have a reg willing to call a 4bet with 67s.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players
2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked

UTG: $53.25
Hero (UTG+1): $50.00
MP1: $50.00
MP2: $50.75
CO: $47.35
BTN: $36.95
SB: $49.75
BB: $61.80

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG+1 with A K
1 fold, Hero raises to $1.50, MP1 raises to $4, 5 folds, Hero raises to $9.50, MP1 calls $5.50

Flop: ($19.75) 2 3 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $10, MP1 calls $10

Turn: ($39.75) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $30.50 all in, MP1 calls $30.50 all in

River: ($100.75) 5 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $100.75
Hero shows A K (a pair of Fives)
MP1 shows 6 7 (two pair, Sevens and Fives)
MP1 wins $97.75
(Rake: $3.00)


5. Fancy Play Syndrome

This one is linked in with number 2 of not believing. Im a sucker for having the need to make some fancy BS plays. Rather just keep it pretty simple i will be making moves that just dont hold true to the story that i am trying to tell.
The classic one of this goes something like the following. The HJ raises, a pretty fishy player. I decide to call with my JJ to try and maximize my value for the hand. One of the blinds then squeezes. The fish folds and i think the Blind is trying to get fancy and decide to re-raise knowing my line dosnt make any sense and then find my self facing a shove from QQ+. That thinking sums up exactly why this move works so well when we have AA and sometimes KK, it simply dosnt tell the story we have been telling and people will pay us off light. Unfortunatley when we do it lighter we tend to find we will get looked up more for that reason.


6. Fish Not Folding Their Top Weak Kicker Hands.

This one affects me quite hard even though i know it shouldnt. One habbit i have got myself in to is raising limpers and then betting Turns and Rivers trying to make them fold after they have called a flop bet. The whole essence of them been fish is that they play very straight forward. Its basic poker, a scare card hits and they bet, they have it. Its simple but sometimes i just dont get it. The following hand is a prime example of me trying to get a fish to fold what i know is a Top Pair hand.

Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked

SB: $109.35
BB: $101.50
UTG: $67.45
UTG+1: $95.70
UTG+2: $139.10
Hero (MP1): $118.55
MP2: $100.00
CO: $50.00
BTN: $100.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is MP1 with K J
UTG calls $1, UTG+1 calls $1, 1 fold, Hero raises to $5, 2 folds, BTN calls $5, 3 folds, UTG+1 calls $4

Flop: ($17.50) 6 K A (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $11, BTN folds, UTG+1 calls $11

Turn: ($39.50) 3 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $25, UTG+1 calls $25

River: ($89.50) 3 (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $10, Hero calls $10

Final Pot: $109.50
UTG+1 shows A 2 (two pair, Aces and Threes)
Hero mucks K J
UTG+1 wins $106.50
(Rake: $3.00)

Villain is 45/3 and has a 100% fold to Cbet OOP over a pretty small sample. I bet the flop and get a call. His range for calling includes weak Aces which i expect him to have most of the time. After the call i shouldnt put another penny in unless i improve but i bet again and end up calling the small river bet.
After seeing A2 this managed to tilt me quite a bit as did his small river bet. All this because i didnt read the hand for what it was.


7. My Bad Play

This is probably the thing that tilts me the most. I play a hand really bad when i know i could play it a whole lot better. Now i know at this level we are all going to make mistakes so its not the really small things that tilt me its the ones where i call 3 streets with TP Good Kicker when i know that my instinct is telling me that i am beat. My insticts tell me one thing but i am terrible for not believing and curiosity gets the better of me and have to make the call. This tilts the hell out of me because i try to set myself high standards and know that this falls well below them. Hand example:-

Villain is 35/16 after 180 hands and cbets the flop 70% and the turn only 40% and the river 30%. He barells 3 streets i really know i am beat but call anyway.




Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players
2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked

MP: $97.50
CO: $64.00
BTN: $100.00
Hero (SB): $100.00
BB: $110.00
UTG: $119.90
UTG+1: $43.75

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is SB with K Q
2 folds, MP raises to $4, 2 folds, Hero calls $3.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($9.00) Q T 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $6, Hero calls $6

Turn: ($21.00) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $13, Hero calls $13

River: ($47.00) 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $26, Hero calls $26

Final Pot: $99.00
MP shows A A (a pair of Aces)
Hero mucks K Q
MP wins $96.00
(Rake: $3.00)


Summary

So thats the main things that trigger off my tilt, sometimes it can be one thing sometimes it can be a combination of things. I now need to get in to thinking how to overcome the feelings i get when any of the above occur. I know what things are triggering my tilt problems but im guessing addressing them is not going to be as simple as working out what they are.
In Part 3 im going to get in to Anger and how we can go about overcoming and dealing with the feelings when they start building up and how i can use this playing poker to overcome the situations that bring on Tilt.

Now i have been doing some digging and research on the World Wide Web and have found tons and tons of articles on Anger Management and the like and flagged the ones that i feel are relevant. Now im not going to pretend that i could write in any great detail on the subject because i wouldnt know where to start but im going to add some links and quotes from websites that are freely available to you and me so i hope that is ok and dosnt break any rules.


The first piece is from the American Psychological Association. http://www.apa.org/



The following pieces are from Anger Management Tips.com. http://www.angermanagementtips.com/


Final piece is from anger-management-techniques.org. http://www.anger-management-techniques.org


I think all of the above is very relevant with my tilt issues and often when i am tilting i find myself lashing out. Im not one for taking it on other people but its usually a case of taking it out on myself by hitting things or kicking things. I can just feel myself go and then all of a sudden its like the red mist has descended and i am no longer in control.

The route i really want to go down is the Cognitive Restructuring route. I hear people say you should feel pleased when someone sucks out on you and imagine how they are feeling at that moment. I would love to get to that stage where i could be mildly happy that someone had sucked out on me or their play was so bad that i could still have a chuckle about it even though i have lost the hand.

I think even if i could eliminate some of the small thoughts that go through my head when i lose a hand i think i should have won like the AK V AJ hand then i feel this will stop the early signs of me tilting and may make the higher levels of my Tilt just that bit less than they are at the moment. Im not saying i lost it over that hand because i didnt. However there was a bit of my mind feeling like i should really have won the hand and that i dont have any luck even if it was a very mild feeling.

I love the last piece on dealing with anger where it talks about all we need is acceptance. Once we learn to accept then the only way is forward. I think there is a piece about this in one of the tilt books that i have read where they talk about accepting because once the money has gone in the middle there is nothing that we can do and we have to accept that the cards will fall as they fall.

Im probably going to do a bit of a follow up on this in which i can try and incorporate all of the above in to the things that trigger my Tilt and look at ways i can help myself cut down on the feelings that lead to my tilt.

Six Steps To Monkey Tilt - Part 4

Cognitive Restructuring

What is Cognitive restructuring?

Cognitive Restructuring is a process of changing subconscious thoughts. The goal is to help people overcome faulty thinking errors by bringing them to a level of conscious awareness of their incorrect programming.


Simply put Cognitive Restructuring is basically a re-wiring of our thought process. The idea is that it is your thoughts about things that happen, not the events themselves, that cause you to feel or behave in a certain way.

The first thing we need to do is become aware of the messages that we send ourselves when an event occurs. Most things are just second nature, something happens and we instantly know how we feel. What we need to do though is examine our thought process that makes us feel that way. By doing this we can slowly change the way we think in certain given situations.

To examine our thoughts though we need to take notes on what our thoughts are when an event occurs. For example a fish hits his 2 outer on the river. What are the thoughts that are running through our head? Are we thinking "What a lucky swine" or "Im going to get back at him"?

The next step is to examine those thoughts that we have and challenge them with more rational thinking, in the example above we shouldnt be getting angry, we should be pleased that the fish has won and will keep playing, afterall we know poker is about the long term.

If we keep doing this every time we have some cloudy thinking then slowly but surely we can change the way we think and should be able to see changes in our moods.

In Part 1 i have already highlighted some of my thought processes when running through a few hands and in Part 2 i have talked about the things that can send me spiralling to Monkey Tilt. Using these Triggers and thoughts i have put together some flow charts highlighting some of my thoughts and challenging them with more rational thinking before coming to a conclusion as to what my new feeling should be.

A Flow Chart for each of my Trigger points is below:-

1. Checking HEM Repeatedly



2. Been A Non Believer



3. Fish Sucking Out



4. Regs Incorrect Play



5. Fancy Play Syndrome



6. Fish Not Folding Top Pair Weak Kicker Hands



7. My Bad Play




As we can see from the charts some of the things that we are thinking are going to do us no favours what so ever. I mean some of the key words are as blunt as they come, REVENGE, MISERY, DEPRESSION, ANGER, FRUSTRATION and SELF PITY, these are emotional responses where there is hardly ever going to be any good come of them. We always tell ourselves that we should only play poker when we are feeling our best but we can never truly be at our best when the slightest piece of fuzzy thinking sends us off balance and away from our focus.

A very very small percentage of people will hardly ever tilt but the rest of us will feel it at some point and to varying degrees when we are at the tables. I highly doubt that we can ever totally eradicate Tilt from our play but we can take steps to reduce it to a controlable level.

Im not sure if this has been of any help to anybody else apart from myself but even if just 1 person can take something out of it then that will be fantastic.

Im defnatley going to keep looking and researching in to this and may update this with anything that i think may be of some use.

frist, reading..

Wow.

Yes, I read the whole thing. Wow.


This should get stickied as a COTW.

+1 to COTW

I actually got myself to actively rooting for people to suck out, by making it a personal goal to be the unluckiest poker player in the world.

It hasn't really worked (my all-in EV is slightly below my winnings for lifetime) but it's worked like a charm to relieve me of any and all tilt related to suckouts.

Monkey-tilt requires you to jump stakes somewhere in your process.
Nice post.

Excellent excellent read. Well written and great points

Very good read. +2 to COTW

Bloody oath, epic post.

this is a truly awesome post and just what i needed right now, ty

ha ha, isn't every one of us feeling like they are the unluckiest poker player in the world?

@ OP

nice post....will read it tomorrow.